The year of change could be the easiest way to explain how 2009 was for Twin Lakes hospital, experiencing disasters, cutbacks and expansion plans at the end of the fall season.

January was when the ice storm disaster struck Grayson County, after that economic impacts caused the hospital to cutback on employee hours and benefits, an H1N1 scare faced the community, a new Hospitalist program was introduced and new doctors were introduced to Twin Lakes’ ever-growing staff.

One of the highlights was a $15-million expansion and renovation project that came well deserved for many on October 26, with a groundbreaking ceremony to kickoff the event.

Some of the improvements include 55,000-square feet of new structure and 50,000-square feet of renovated structure.

The new additions will allow for more ease of patient care, better accommodations for visitors and a new pharmacy center.

According to Twin Lakes Regional Medical Center CEO Steve Meredith, the hospital has come a far way since its inception in 1951. During that year, square footage for the Grayson County War Memorial Hospital was 14,000-square feet. The existing building, located off of Wallace Avenue in Leitchfield, grew to 56,000-square feet in 1979. Currently the location is 175,000-square feet.

Meredith said during the groundbreaking ceremony that he felt the expansion was money well spent for the community.

"Carefully planned growth will create a more capable clinical environment," he explained. "Improved access will be reflected in increased customer and employee satisfaction. Simply put, the expansion will make a good hospital even better. The expansion is vital to the long-term sustainability of Twin Lakes Regional Medical Center."

A Hospitalist program was also introduced later in the year. Twin Lakes Director of Planning and Marketing Bill Oldham explained under the new initiative the newly hired doctors would only treat patients admitted to the hospital. The hope was that the Hospitalist venture would free up more time for attending physicians who had private practices.

"By only being in the hospital," Oldham said, "hospitalists can see patients multiple times during the day, can respond to urgent patient needs in minutes and are available to order tests and view results in real time. They're also more accessible to help the nursing staff with questions or problems involving hospital patients."

Twin Lakes officials made the decision to go to this program in hopes of offering better patient care.

"Under the program, a Hospitalist physician will work round the clock in the hospital to take care of in-patients," Meredith explained. "There will be three or four Hospitalists providing coverage, and they will all specialize in in-patient care."

The H1N1 scare caused people to take notice about being better properly immunized against the flu.

Because of many being unsure about the dangers of the virus, the hospital implemented proper precautions.

"In response to the H1N1 and seasonal flu, Twin Lakes Regional Medical Center implemented voluntary visitor restrictions in all patient care areas to protect visitors," remembered Oldham, "patients and employees. Signs were posted at all entrances, elevators and public areas in September with the restriction information."

The effort, in staff members' eyes, was a way to prevent those who were already sick from acquiring more diseases.

"Our number one goal is to protect the health and safety of our patients, many of whom are already vulnerable and susceptible to more serious illness,” said Rowgena Cain, ARNP and Infection Control/Employee Health officer at TLRMC.

“While visits from family and friends are an important part of the healing process, during this particular time we especially want to help limit the amount of exposure visitors have to the flu virus,” Cain said. “Children are one the most vulnerable groups for the flu, especially the H1N1 strain.”

Oldham lastly talked about, during an interview earlier this week, how much of an impact the ice storm disaster impacted overall operations at the hospital.

"The historic ice storm that blasted Grayson County in late January tested the employees and facilities at Twin Lakes Regional Medical Center," Oldham mentioned. " Advance weather forecasts put the TLRMC staff on high alert days before the storm hit. As many preparations as possible were made to withstand problems caused by severe winter weather including the loss of electrical power for an extended period of time. Still, the impact of the storm on the hospital was remarkable."

By taking extra prepared steps ahead of time, the hospital was ready for whatever mother nature would throw at them.

Twin Lakes Director of Plant Operations Carey Sims spoke about some of the steps his staff took to prepare for the disaster at hand.

“We have a new, industrial electrical generator which automatically kicks on any time the power goes off and we made sure we had an adequate supply of diesel fuel for it," Sims explained. "We reviewed our internal procedures for various emergency situations and prepared accordingly including getting accommodations ready for employees who would be sleeping at the hospital.”

One of the major needs the organization noticed was the lack of sleeping accommodations.

“We had many employees stay at the hospital for long periods of time helping out wherever they were needed,” according to David Logsdon, RN, MSN, CNO and Incident Commander during the recent emergency. “These people stayed even though they had homes and families of their own to be concerned about. They truly put our patients and the community first.”

Oldham added that during the week following the ice storm, Twin Lakes staff treated many patients with injuries or illnesses attributed to the storm, which included numerous injuries from falls on ice and slick surfaces resulting in sprains and a few fractures; several minor injuries caused by falling tree limbs or that occurred during the removal of tree limbs and other storm debris; a small number of patients for issues related to exposure to the cold; and at least one area resident was treated for carbon monoxide poisoning.

“I’ve always told everyone that our employees are the hospital’s most valuable asset,” Meredith said. “Never is that more evident than in a time of crisis like we went through. It was impressive to watch people step up and answer the call without giving it a second thought. I’m proud of them and I think our community should be proud of them as well.”

Looking toward the future, Oldham said the hospital staff understands the trials ahead, but is ready for anything when it comes to providing good healthcare to the community.

“2009 was filled with news headlines about the ever-changing world of healthcare and it looks like much more of the same for 2010,” summarized Oldham. “While all sides of the debates claim to know the eventual outcome, the fact is nobody really knows what to expect the healthcare landscape to look like in the future. Regardless of changes on the national and state level, Twin Lakes Regional Medical Center is preparing for a bright future serving Grayson and surrounding counties.”